h, chapter 41, line 10 “… do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; (Van Voorst 42).”A number of sects of Christianity were established throughout history. Some hurt the initial movement, and some helped it. The first one of these sects was called Gnosticism. This sect was based on intellectual elitism, i.e., that one could gain salvation through secret knowledge (Van Voorst 44). This threatened the Christian movement because it taught that Jesus would only save those that had this knowledge and that Jesus was merely a “heavenly transmitter” communicating his message, and then waiting for those that caught it. Despite all the persecution and sects that come about, the church reaffirms its beliefs and becomes catholic, meaning orthodox or universal. Christianity expanded and many Christian thinkers were among the intellectually elite in Rome and around the world. A very significant event that led to the growth and power of Christianity, was crowning Constantine emperor in 324. Constantine “passed the edit of Milan which granted religious freedom to all and ended the persecution of Christians…” and it was Constantine who began the process of making the empire Christian (Weaver 68).Constantine would soon move the capital to Byzantium, renamed Constantinople. The people accepted Christ as the king of rulers and their true emperor. The cross was carried into battle, and laws were passed in the name of their lord, Jesus (Weaver 69). Constantine would include church leaders among his advisors. He would also direct all funds toward the church and it would soon become very rich and powerful.The western church, centered in Rome, was crumbling due to lack of citizen participation in government and attacks by the Barbarians. When Justinian was crowned emperor, he attempted to reformulate laws. In this task, he failed and the western empire collapsed into prov...
